What Was Lost Is Now Found
by CharmedPiper908
Summary: A serial murder has hit the island and the case leads them to Washington, DC. to Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Please read What Kono Knew and The Past Comes back to Haunt. It will all make sense. Thanks!
1. Chapter 1

What Was Lost Is Not Found -

Chapter 1 -

It had been weeks since Steve had last seen Elisabeth. He didn't know if she were alive or worse, dead, but for all intense and purpose, she was legally dead. Joe was missing as well. It was like they both fell off of the face of the earth!

_Where the hell are they? _

Any leads that Steve may have come across on either one, never really panned out. Joe definitely knew how to cover his tracks well but it didn't mean Steve was giving up, though deep down, he knew it was over with Elisabeth, and he needed to move on. Only he couldn't get him to that point. It had become obsession for him. He'd let the job slide, even his friends and they meant the world to him. He was thankful that they covered him whenever the governor showed up, otherwise, he'd been fired along time ago. Of course it could still come to that if the Governor knew that Elisabeth had faked her death and the team knew all along.

As the lieutenant commander sat at his desk that morning with maps and files strewn all over his desk. He was tracking the last known whereabouts when the phone rang. Steve quickly snatched the receiver to answer it. "McGarrett here!" He nodded as he listened. "Uh huh, yeah. You just missed them? No, it can't be. You say a week? A week? Dammit! Thanks Robinson! I appreciate this. No, no, I understand. Thanks again!" Slowly, Steve set the phone back down in its cradle, more like slammed it down. It was then that he knew it was going to be impossible!

"Steve..." Danny entered the office, serious look on his face. "We gotta job." He nodded towards the toward, indicating it was time to go, though he knew it was going to be a tough sell once he glanced at the desk.

"I'll be there in a little bit..." Steve said absentmindedly as he shifted through his files again.

Danny shook his head, knowing he was just gonna have to ripped the bandage off of that wound. "Steve...buddy!" Danny made his way over to desk, leaning against it. "This has got to stop! It's time, man. You've been working on this along time and have come up with nothing. Face it, she's gone! It's time to just move on, let her go!"

As Steve looked up, Danny could see the pain in his friends eyes, and it broke his heart. "Don't you think I have tried?" Steve blurted out, instantly regretting the ton in his voice.

"Steve..."

"I know!" Steve looked away. "I know I just...I care about her, and I want to know that she's ok."

That made Danny smile. He knew that his friend was ok. "Something tells me that she's going to be ok, especially if she can kick your ass!"

"She did...didn't she?" A wistful smile crossed Steve's handsome face.

_While at the gym nearby headquarters, Elisabeth was working the punching bang, weaving back and forth as it came at her, and suddenly someone placed their hand on her shoulder. Suddenly, she reached for the hand, and flipped the person over her and to the ground. _

"_I'm unarmed!" Steve said, holding his hands up._

_To her surprise, it was Steve. _

"_Oh my god, Steve!" Elisabeth quickly removed her gloves. "Oh my god, are you okay?"_

"_Yeah...I'm...fine!" _

_Elisabeth reached for Steve's hand, and slowly, helped him to his feet. She noticed Danny laughing his ass off and she glowed at him. _

"See now..." Danny knew that Steve realized she would be ok "Wofat is in jail. She's safe. You know she can't come back. She broke too many laws and left us to deal with the fall out and if anyone finds out, we're screwed. It's better this way. It's better that you move on. She'd want you too! " By no means was Danny upset that Elisabeth did what she did. He just didn't like how she went about it. What was done was done.

Danny was right. If anyone else found out it would bring the whole team down, and Five-0 would be dismantled for good! It would be Steve's fault and he couldn't allow that happen. Wofat had to stay in jail.

"You know, I hate it when you're right!"

"I know!" Danny grinned. "Come on..." He moved towards the door. "Let's go do our jobs!"

As Steve glanced down at everything on his desk, he realized it really was time to let go. It was really over. He tore himself away from the map and files but not before he saw Elisabeth's picture and he smiled. There were so many good memories but it was a shame they had so little time together.

The lieutenant picked up the picture, held it in his hands for a few moments, and silently wished her well in whatever she did. He then opened the desk drawer to his right, and set it towards the back, closing the drawer, and closing the door on the past and starting fresh for the future.

Sighing, Steve pushed away from the desk, stood up saying, "Where are we going?"

Danny smiled and nodded, happy that Steve had decided to move forward with his life. "To the Hilton..." They walked out to the main area only to be stopped by a young man with dark hair and a pimply faced. He was dressed in biker shorts, a jacket, and a hat. Definitely not a look anyone wanted to be dressed in.

"What's this?" Steve asked curious as the young man handed something to him.

It was a large white envelope with neat handwriting across the front of it saying "Steve McGarrett."

"I don't know. I was just told to give this to you at 9:30 on Monday." The young man looked at his watch. "It is Monday and it is 9:30."

"Thanks!" Steve reached in his pocket, pulled out a bill, and handed it to the young man.

"Thanks, Lieutenant, Commander McGarrett!" The young man took off.

"Who do you think it could be from?"

Studying the envelop a little more closely, Steve realized that there was something about the handwriting that had him curious. What was it? It was a woman's handwriting. That's what it was, but it seemed more than that. He ran his hand across the writing and then it hit him. It was Elisabeth's handwriting. Why would she be sending him a little? What was going on?

Danny's phone suddenly rang bringing Steve out of his revery. "Chin..." Danny answered. "Yeah, yeah, we're on her way!" He glanced up at Steve as he ended the call. "We gotta jet. The governor has got his tidy whities in a bunch."

Steve smiled. "Let's go then!' He put the letter his pocket for safe keeping as they headed out.

****

Twenty minutes later, the guys pulled up to the crowded parking lot of the hotel. Press suddenly swarmed the car, peppering them with questions about the case, before they could even get out of the car. The other officers rushed over and pushed them away from Steve and Danny as they got out of the car.

"How the hell did the press get wind of this?" Steve shut the door angrily!

"Hey hey now!" Danny glared at his friend but it suddenly disappeared when a young, blonde, blue eyed reporter dressed in a black suit headed towards him. He definitely noticed right away and smiled. She was his favorite reporter on the nightly news.

The reporter gave him a shy smile. "Alyssa from Channel 8 news...Is it true that Lacy Combs, the star of the new police drama Hawaii Blue, is dead?"

Danny hadn't prepared to answer any questions. He shut the door, saying, "I have no comment for you at this time." What more could he say?

"Do you have any comment, Lt. Commander?" A male reporter asked Steve as he came around the car.

"No comment!" Steve pushed his way through throng of reporters. "Hey Jack!"

"Yes sir!" A short and stocky, balding police officer hurried over to Steve. "What can I do for you, sir?"

"I want you to clear the area of any reporters!"

"On it sir!" Jack turned towards the reporters. "Get back behind the tape."

"But that's..."

"Get behind the tape!" Jack ordered once again.

The guys hurried into the busy hotel. Some of the guests were sitting in the waiting area, ready to be interviewed, and wondering what was going on, while others stood around speaking with other officers. The staff was standing around waiting to go back to work.

Chin noticed Steve and Danny heading over to the hotel staff. "Will you excuse me, Mrs. Cullen. Officer Chung will be assisting you." Chin gestured to the officer to his right as he smiled her.

The officer was good looking oriental, dark hair, dark eyes.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Kelly." Mrs. Cullen smiled. She had brunette hair, tiny and pale as could be.

As the lieutenant was coming towards them, Steve spotted him and waved. "So what have you got, Chin?" Steve asked when he arrived.

"Lacey arrived back at her room around 5:30 after a shoot this morning and no one had seen her until this..." Chin held up his iPad and played the video of the security surveillance from the hallway outside of her

A male appeared to be about six feet tall dressed like a hotel staff member, pushing up a cart to the door, but his face was unseen. The cart had coffee, orange juice, oatmeal, and toast on it. Everything that she would have ordered for herself.

The young man knocked again and a few minutes later, the door opened, and woman peaked her head out into the hallway, they talked for a moment, and then she went back into the room, while the man walked inside, shutting the door behind him. He did not come out of the room for along time. There didn't seem to be any problems until he came out of the room, failing to close the door as he rushed out of the room. Odd.

When the video was finished, Chin closed the problem, holding the iPad at his side. "Mrs Cullen..." he pointed at the young woman he'd been speaking to only moments before, "found Lacey about an hour ago, when she went down for breakfast."

"Did she hear anything?" Danny inquired.

"No, not a thing. She took a sleeping pill the night before and didn't wake up until a little while ago. She came out of her room, noticed the door was open, she walked into the bedroom just to see if everything was ok, and found Lacey on the bed, dead. She rushed out of the room and into hers, call 911."

"What about the other guests?" Steve asked, placing his hands on his hips and glancing around before looking back at Danny.

"So far no one heard anything." Chin shook his head.

"And the staff? Have they seen anyone that meets the description." Steve mentally checked off the questions in his head.

"The staff hadn't recognized him and the guests don't remember seeing him either."

"You mean this guy slipped in and out unnoticed?" Danny was definitely annoyed.

That made their case even harder to solve.

"We've solved cases harder this. Come on." Steve said, heading towards the elevator.

As they turned to face the lobby from the elevator, they spotted a young man matching the description of their suspect passing them by. He glanced over at Steve and smiled knowingly when the doors closed. Steve and Danny glanced at each other when realization hit them.

"Ya think?" Steve pushed the open button and he and Danny rushed out of the elevator, and looked both ways, but the young man was gone."

"What is it?" Chin came running over when he saw Danny and Steve with their guns raised.

"The suspect was just here walking by the elevators," answered Danny.

"See if you can get video of from this angle," ordered Steve. "And find out who he is!"

"On it, boss!" Chin took off.

"The son of a bitch is playing us!" Steve placed his gun in its holster as did Danny.

"We got a good look at him. It won't be long till we get him!" Danny said.

Once again, the guys headed for the elevator, pushed floor number eight, and watched as the doors closed. A few minutes, they opened on to the floor and they stepped out into the crowded hallway. It was filled with police offices and morgue attendants. It seemed like the whole force was on the case.

Danny and Steve headed into the room, putting their gloves on, and quickly started their investigation. As Steve went to dresser drawer, he saw a white envelope similar to the one he'd revived earlier in an evidence bag.

"What's this?" Steve picked it up, and pulled the letter out, studying the handwriting closely. "Danny look at this!"

"The handwriting is the same..." Danny agreed. "That's Elisabeth's handwriting."

"What?" Kono crossed to them, and she looked around as if someone else might have heard their exchange. "You don't think..." She didn't want to finish the sentence for fear it was true.

Rushing the close the door, Danny didn't want anyone else knowing what they knew. It was something that they had to keep to themselves. At least right now anyway, until they figure out how Elisabeth seemed to be connected to this case.

"No..." Steve followed her train of thought and shook his head. "She'd never have anything to do with this. She's not capable of that."

That was definitely a relief, but it still didn't answer any questions.

"Maybe she is one of the victims..." Kono said almost in a whisper.

The lieutenant commander shook his hand no! He refused to believe that it was going to come to that, but deep down, he knew it was a possibility.

"Open it!" Danny ordered.

They had to get to the bottom of it and fast before anyone else found out what they were doing.

Quickly, Steve opened the letter he'd gotten. It was one single line. A riddle. It wasn't Elisabeth's handwriting. But why did she write on the envelope?

What is that you desperately want that I have?

"What does that mean?" Kono was stumped as she glanced up at Steve.

"I don't know." Steve reread the riddle again. Nothing was coming to mind. "What does the other one say?"

Kono pulled the letter out of the evidence bag and opened the envelope. It was the same, short, one liner, in the same elegant handwriting.

You found my masterpiece, but have you found yours?

"This psycho is just messing with us!" It made Danny upset to think this idiot was capable of getting under their skin.

"I want the handwriting on the letter analyzed. Check for any prints." Steve handed the letter over to Kono.

"Got it!" Kono took the letters and put them back in each of the envelopes and into the evidence bag.

The guys then turned to the dead, naked actress on the bed. She was slender, dark long hair, exotic looking. Her left arm was posed on her forehead, palm facing up, while the right was under her chin. Danny felt uneasy with the girls eyes watching him. Wherever he moved, the eyes seemed to follow him.

"Man, I got to close her eyes!" Danny went over her and closed her eyes. "It doesn't look like she was strangled." Danny observed closely as he pointed to her neck.

"No blood either. It looks as though the killer may have cleaned up." Steve walked into the bathroom but that was spotless. Even her cosmetics were neatly aligned on the vanity and the towels were picked up off the floor and hung up on the hook behind the door.

A moment later, Max had entered the room. "Hello! Please excuse my lateness...there was a Heroes marathon on earlier this morning, I guess I...over slept." He rushed over to the body without looking at the guys, knowing all to well, if he did look, they would tease him.

As Max had begun to examine the body, he quickly noticed two puncture holes on the base of her neck. It was as if a vampire had bitten her neck and sucked her dry, but that would be preposterous, vampires don't exist. But it had happened in another case that he'd come across from his old mentor's files. Each of the victims had been drained of blood much like this looked like

The tiny medical examiner stood back, glancing over the body. The way she was positioned was exactly like each of the victim's he'd read about. They had a serial killer on their hands. Max turned towards the guys, "This body was drained of its blood." He pushed his glasses up his nose.

"What? How?" Danny and Steve had asked at the same time.

"That would prompt further examination..." That was a question that eluded Max but he figured that it was done with an IV.

The guys leaned in, looking down at the marks which had begun to scab over. Anyone would have assumed the markings were beauty marks.

"Give me a guess, Max..." Steve looked up at him.

"IV perhaps..."

"So he staged her body and removed her blood." Danny paced back forth trying to wrap his mind around the strange events. "What kind of sick, pervert does this sort of thing?"

"This isn't the first I've seen this..." Max said after a moment. "I've read about cases similar to this where the victim body's had been staged like that..." He gestured toward the lifeless body. "In each case, the killer was able to get into the home by pretending to be a police officer, fireman, someone that would be trusted."

"Like an employee of a hotel?" Danny asked curious.

"Exactly." Max nodded.

"That explains why there was no blood," observed Steve, running a hand through is dark hair. "I'm gonna need to see these cases, if you don't mind, Max.

"Oh, of course, I will have them sent to your office right away."

As Steve and Danny headed out in the hallway, they saw Chin walking towards them. By the look on Chin's face, they knew he had no luck. This was certainly turning out to be one hell of a case to figure out.

"The guy disappeared and any video footage is now gone."

"Dammit!" Steve shook his head annoyed. "How did that happen?"

"The guy's good with computers," surmised Chin.

"Get a sketch artist down here." Danny demanded of Chin. "Then run his face through the data base. He's got to have a record."

"On it!" Chin pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number.

For more privacy, the guys walked down the hallway from the other officers.

"I want to keep a lid on..." Steve said quietly. "If anyone else find about the letters and Elisabeth's possible connection, then all hell is gonna break loose."

It was making sense why Steve was suddenly so obsessed with finding Elisabeth; he must have known on some level, she was missing, hurt, or worse, dead. He was going to do all he could to find her.

"Hey!" Danny tapped him on the arm. "We'll find her."

Steve gave him a curt nod and they headed back towards the crime scene.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2-

Their investigating led them back to headquarters. Heading right to the counsel computer, Steve quickly pulled up their sketch of the perp, running it through the system. The others had gone back to their offices. Danny made the notification to the parents as they lived in Ireland and they didn't seem to concerned that their daughter had passed away.

After the notification was completed, Danny came out into the main room to let Steve know. "Just made the notification."

"Yeah!" Steve turned to glance at his friend.

"I got the impression that they didn't really care that their daughter was murdered."

"What gave you that impression?"

"Appears that they had a falling out not to long ago over drugs and washed their hands of her."

"Hmm." Steve was running over possibilities in his head. "Maybe this is drug related."

Danny's cell phone begun ringing. "Hold that thought..." He pulled the cell out of his pocket and pushed the speaker on. It was Gracey. "Hey munchkin. What's up?"

"Danno did you forget?"

"Danno didn't forget honey. I just got busy."

Steve grinned and whispered, "You forgot!"

Danny waved him off. "Monkey, I think we might have to reschedule. Danno is pretty busy tonight." He glanced at his watch. It was after five and it was definitely turning into a long day, and they were no closer to finding anything out on this case.

"Danny, just go. We can handle it here."

"Really?" Gracey excited voice said. "Thank you, Uncle Steve!"

"No problem, Gracey." Steve smiled.

"I'm leaving now! See you in a bit, Grace!" Danny ended the call and stuffed the phone in his front pocket. "Call me if anything changes."

"I will! Go have a little fun!"

"Thanks!" Danny left through the front entrance.

"Where's Danny off too?" Chin came out of his office.

"He's got a date!" Steve said. "With Gracey."

"Aww that's cute!" Chin smiled and then got on with business. "I went over Lacey's financial."

"Find anything?"

"It looks like before the new show, she was totally broke."

"And she was in rehab a half dozen times," Kono came out her office. "The last one seemed to take. Her people told her this show was her last chance."

A messenger headed towards them carrying a box. "Lt. Commander McGarrett!"

"Right here!" Steve gestured with his head.

The messenger handed him the box. "Sign here!"

Steve signed his name to the list and the messenger left the room. "These are case files from Max. He believe this case is connected with these cases."

"Kono and I will go through those." Chin offered as Steve gave him the file.

Turning back to the monitor, Steve watched the pictures of suspects fly on by, though was nothing was hitting. It was looking more and more like the suspect hadn't had a record. Steve didn't have to think about it when he his cell rang. He pulled it from his front pocket, hitting the accept button, and holding up to his ear. "McGarrett! I see! We'll be there as soon as we can!" He ended the call and stuffed the phone back in his pocket. Another one! On his watch! This can't happen again! "Chin...Kono! Let's go! We've got another body on our hands!"

Chin and Kono glanced at Steve, shocked expression on their faces. Another body this soon?

They drove down a windy road and Steve could see their destination ahead. It was an old dilapidated house. The front roof was hanging on by a thread and the rest of house was leaning to the left. It had long been abandoned. The city was never able to find the previous owner.

The truck came to a stop and team slide out, shutting the doors behind them. They could hear the ocean from where they stood at, but as they got closer to the house, they see the ocean crash against the mountain side. As they walked, the dead grass crunching underneath their feet.

On the right of the house, there was a large generator illuminating the house. When they walked inside, they noticed the wallpapered walls had been stained from many years of rain and in some areas, it had been door off. The floor creaked as they moved through the house. It was like they were walking into a horror film.

Steve headed into the living room off to the left. He noticed that the room was void of dust and the mirror above the fireplace – that was the center piece of the room – was spotless. The sofa even looked clean for its age. Someone had lived here before. Probably as recent as that day!

To her right, Kono went into the dinning room to look around. The furniture was definitely antique, but kept clean. She made her way into the kitchen. It was small, galley like, but a large one. The cabinet were also in good condition as if someone had recently painted them and changed the handles. The fridge was new as well as the stove. Everything was spotless. No finger prints.

Walking passed a large picture window that was above the sick, Kono saw that a little patio had been set up, though it looked like it hadn't been used in awhile. As she turned around, she noticed a generated by the back door. Realized that it must have been on the house had been running its electricity.

While Kono and Steve were downstairs, Chin headed up the old stairway. It creaked but looked safe enough. He stepped onto the second floor landing, he checked the front room, they appeared to be spotless as well, and the future was in the same period as the rest of the house. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary.

To Chin's surprise, the bathroom had been updated and very modern, and very clean. It didn't really look like anyone ever really used it. It was all strange. The house looked like it would fall over if you pushed it, but the inside still intact. He moved onto the next bedroom, much the same. Then he crossed the hall to the bedroom where the body was

A large caramel colored man headed down the stairs and went right into the living room where Steve had been. "Lt. Commander."

"Captain Marshall..." Steve and the captain shook hands. "Is it really structurally safe?" He refereed to the dilapidated house.

"Believe it or not, this baby is still structurally sound! We had a contracted check the house before entering."

"How did you find out about the body?"

"We got a call from some guy. He told us where to find the body. It looked like someone lived here for awhile. As you can see..." The captain ran his hand along the mantle, "the furniture looks like they'd been taken care of. Also there was can goods in the cabinet and new fridge and stove."

The suspect was here, Steve was certain of that! He wondered if the victims had been here before they died. How long had the suspect lived here without anyone knowing about him being there? Maybe Elisabeth had been here.

"Doesn't look like anyone else was here..." Kono entered the living room. "Kitchen and dinning room clean. It looked as though the stove and refrigerated was run on a generator. I saw one by the back door."

"Yeah, the CSI team was here already and came to that same conclusion."

"Just the same, we're gonna take one more look..." Steve said as he and Kono headed for the stairs.

They arrived in the bedroom. They were instantly hit with a paint smell. Steve reached out and touched the wall; it was freshly painted pink. Kono handed him a towel from her bag, and he cleaned his gloved hand off.

The room was just as clean as the other ones. Absolutely not dust anywhere that they could see. The suspect was definitely good at hiding their tracks, but sooner or later, suspects always screw up at some point, and the team always finds their guy! That was one thing Steve was confident on.

Kono and Steve were not at all surprised to find the body was staged exactly like the other had been. The furniture was in the same style as the other rooms, though the linens were very new; it still had the tag on it.

The brunette took her Ipad out of her bag and quickly made notes about the victim. The girl had short spiked blonde hair, petite, blue eyes, two little marks on the neck and she was naked. Kono felt bad for the young girl and placed the sheet back over her to give her a little respect.

It was just the three of them, the CSI team and Max had given the team their space for the moment.

When Chin hurried to shut the door quietly, while Kono decided to check the armoire in the far corner of the room. Maybe she'd get lucky and find a print.

"I found this on the dresser, Steve!" Chin pulled an envelope out of his back pocked it and handed to Steve. It said 'For Steve McGarrett's eyes only'.

"What is this?" Steve took it and quickly opening up the envelope, and removing the letter to read. The note was written in that elegant handwriting as the others.

She fled into the night, leaving you behind to grieve for your love. When I found her, she was broken, missing you! Many times, I followed her to the airport, and always she was ready to get on the fight until that stupid bald man talked to her out of it. She tried to moved on, but she failed. It was always you! Always! She's mine now! If you want her, come and find her. Think of this as a game of catch me if you can...can you catch me?

The anger and rage was boiling within Steve; he crumpled the note in his hand. He'd finally decided to move on and this happened to him. How the hell was he going to get to the bottom of this and keep evidence hidden? The truth always came back and bit you in the ass when you least expected it.

"Don't let that SOB get to you. That is exactly what he wants!" Chin removed the note from Steve's hand. "No one has to know about these, ok." He folded the letter into the envelope and put in his back pocket.

"I can't ask you to do that! It could mean the end of your career."

"I know this risks, Steve. I'm willing to take them for you and for Elisabeth, for all of us! We're in this together!" He placed his hand on Steve's shoulder for reassurance.

While the guys were talking, Kono found a print on the armoire. She took a picture of it with the Ipad, to run the print through the system. Only a few minutes passed, when it finally stopped. "Got a hit!" The young officer glanced over at the guys, then glanced back at the information. "The print belongs to George Rivers..." The guy was in his thirties, clean shaved, short, cropped, military style hair. He reminded Kono of a young James Dean. "Last known address was at The Docks." It was an upper class residential area by the beach.

The guys quickly moved to Kono and she handed them the Ipad. Steve took one glance at the photo on the screen and knew it was their guy. "This is him!" He handed the Ipad to Chin.

"I'll get a BOLO out right away." Chin handed the Ipad back to Kono and stepped out into the hallway.

"Steve, we're gonna get this guy and make sure he's locked up for good!" Danny affirmed.

Though Steve didn't feel so confident about that.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3-

Steve hadn't gone home the night before. He had chosen to stay behind at headquarters, while the others had gone home for a breather – a new perspective. Steve was no closer to solving it though. He knew right from the beginning how tough it was going to be. Two dead girls in two days. How many more bodies were going to start showing up? Was Elisabeth's going to be next?

To many questions swirling around the lieutenant commander's head for a clear answer, but one thing was certain, he was going to get a call about another body soon!

As Steve stared at the pile on his desk, a thought at occurred to him, and he pulled his laptop closer, clicking into HPD system and typed in missing in the query line and list of the missing had come up.

The missing girls' name was Nicola DeRico. She'd gone missing about the time the other two murders occurred. The last known place she'd been seen was at her apartment. Witnesses told the HPD that she'd been on her way to the community college.

The more Steve stared at the girl's picture, the more he realize this was their next case. He jotted down the address and pushed away from his desk, stood, and headed out of the office.

On his way to the truck, Steve's phone was ringing. He stopped to answer. "McGarrett...A body? Where? Down by the community college? Where?" Steve shook his head and sighed. "I'm on my way." He ended the call and stuffed the phone back in his pocket just in time to see Danny, Chin, and Kono walking over towards him.

"You look like hell!" Danny commented as he gave his friend a quick glance, though he instantly regretted it. "Another body?" He guessed.

All Steve could do was nod. The one solid lead they'd had, it was gone! It was like this guy was watching them. Steve quickly scanned the surroundings though nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

"Come on..." Kono placed her hand on Steve's arm, distracting him.

"I'll drive," Danny commented as they walked towards the car.

Steve didn't complain. He got in the passengers side, while Danny got into the drivers side of his car. Kono and Chin got in hers.

****  
The team pulled up in front of the community college. It was so crowded between the students and facility, and the HPD. As soon as the guys got out of the car, the reporters pulled up and jumped out of their vans, heading over to them, mics out, peppering them with questions.

"Ah, hell!" Steve grumbled.

"I got it!" Danny pushing the reporters back. "No comment!" Steve heard Danny say as he walked away.

.

It seemed like everything was moving in slow motion until he finally stopped in front of the girl's body.

It was the same girl that Steve had found the missing file. He just stared at her, horrified. In all his years as a marine and then as a cop, he'd never quite seen anything like what he'd been staring at. Kono silently came up to him, shocked expression written over her face, when she'd seen the body.

Steve hadn't realized that Kono and Danny had been standing next to him, staring.

"Ohmygod..."

"Son of bitch has definitely becoming brazen!" Danny commented.

"He's sending a message." Max stood up. "Specifically, to you!" He glanced around and then he produced an envelope, similar to the others that he'd received.

"Another one..." remarked Chin.

Quickly, Steve put on some latex gloves, then reached for the envelope, and pulled out the letter to read it.

Elizabeth Short...She never stood a chance. Her body displayed for all the world to see...in pieces. I'd say that's quite the masterpiece, don't you think? Would you want that same fate for your Elisabeth? She'd be the next Black Dahlia! Quelle merveille que ce serai?

The lieutenant commander glanced down at the Nicola; her hair fanned out around her, her hand resting next to her head, the other resting at her side – her body laid in three pieces. Why would anyone be so cruel as to copy another murder so gruesome as the Black Dahlia?

The team had not been to familiar to The Black Dahlia case, only what they've heard over the years, and that it remains unsolved to this day.

"Chin, check with LA about The Black Dahlia case.

"Last I heard, they'd lost a lot of the information..." Chin commented.

"Whatever you can get, have them send it. There might be some of lead." Steve gave folded up the letter and stuff it in the envelop, then into the evidence bag. "See that this taken care of." He told Kono and handed it to her.

"Of course, boss!" Kono took the evidence back and placed in her backpack.

"I'll let you know what I can find..." Chin stepped away with his phone to his ear.

Kono glanced at her cousin and then she got right to work, documenting the scene. It wasn't like anything she'd ever seen before as a cop. She shook her head glumly. "I'm so sorry. We will get the guy who did this..." She knelt down next to the body, took a deep breath, and continued on.

All Steve and Danny could do was nod in agreement. That was their silent vow to the girls who had lost their lives to a sick individual.

"Come on..." Steve walked over to a professor nearby. She was in her mid to late forties, dressed in a dark pant suit, red short hair, tall, and plump. "Hello!" He greeted her with a small smile. "I'm Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett. This is detective Danny Williams."

The professor smiled. "I'm Elizabeth Short."

The guys glanced at each other, then back at Professor Short.

"I know, I get that look all the time."

Glancing at the woman, Danny realized that the woman had some features that would identify her as family of the other Elizabeth Short. "You're related to her, aren't you?" He asked, curiously.

"Yes!" Professor Short nodded. "She was a cousin that I was named after." There was sadness in her eyes because she knew that the police would never find her killer and if they did know, they sure weren't revealing it. LA had made more money keeping it a secret.

Getting to the point, Steve said, "What can you tell us about the victim." He gestured at the dead woman.

"How well, did you know her?" asked Danny.

"Very well. Nicola was a my neighbor. I helped her get into the place next door. I also helped her get into the community college."

"What else can you tell us?"

"She was straight A student, never missed a class, sweet as can be. She was always helping other students. I heard that she was even a volunteer at the library at Story Time. I'd never heard a bad thing about her. She was a good person..." Professor Short started to cry once again.

"Sounds like a nice girl." Danny noted and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Professor Short sniffled and smiled at Danny."Oh, that she was!" She nodded once again. "She was studying to be a teacher."

"Honorable profession." Danny gave her a smile.

"Was there anything unusual going on this week?" Steve inquired.

"Now that you mention it..." The professor was in thought. "There was a young man walking around campus, stalking the girls. He had to be escorted off the property several times. We'd been cutting classes early to make sure students got back to their homes safely."

"How often did this happen?" Steve wondered.

"Every day this week."

"Is there any security camera footage that would collaborate that?" queried Danny.

"I believe there maybe, but you will have to speak to security."

"Thank you, Professor Short!" Steve gave a slight nod and they moved on to other faculty and students, who all said the same things as Professor Short.

"She was to trusting," Danny said as they walked back towards Kono.

"It's a shame when someone as nice as Nicola ends up...dead!" Steve looked up at Kono, who stood. "Anything useful?"

"Actually..." Kono held a bag up. It contained a hair. "It's a dark hair so it couldn't be Nicola's, but we'll no more once we get it to the lab." She placed it in her bag with the other items.

Hopeful! That was what Steve was at the moment. That little hair was the first solid lead. It had to link them to the murderer.

***  
As Steve put the car in park and shut if off, he glanced up at Nicola's home. It was modest, small, square like, with two windows in the front and a small porch that led to the front door. It was painted a bright yellow.

The phone rang, breaking the commander's reverie. Steve reached for the phone and answered it. "Yeah Chin...What? You sure about this? Ok! Definitely check more into that. Danny and I will be talking with some of the vic's neighbors. All right, see you in a bit." Steve ended the call and slid the phone in his front pocket and then glanced over at Danny.

"What did Chin say?"

Steve didn't answer right away, opened his door, and slide out, shutting the door behind him.

"Steve..." Danny said shutting his door. "What are you telling me?"

A thought occurred to Danny; any evidence they find will some how connect with another case.

"Chin was running COVIS earlier; he got a hit several cold cases in Washington, DC. Same MO. Same man wanted for questioning. Just not enough evidence to arrest him." There was a hint of annoyance in Steve's voice. "Chin's calling NCIS to see if we can get the files sent to us."

The guys walked up the driveway, glancing around the neighborhood.

"I once worked with a Special Agent Gibbs on a case. I wonder if he's still there." Danny pulled out his gloves as they reached for the door and put them on. "Stand up guy! If he believes in your innocence, he will fight for ya!"

"OH yeah?"

"I was considering transferring until I met Rachel."

"You what?" Steve stopped and glance up at Danny. "How come you never told me this?"

Danny shrugged! "You never asked!"

The commander shook his head, knelt down in front of the door and jimmied the lock open. He returned his took to his pocket.

"Ready?" Steve reach for his gun in its holster, and with the other gloved hand, he turned the knob, and pushed the door open.

Steve stepped inside, glancing around the tiny little living room, before stepping inside.

It looked clear in the living room and the guys moved onto the kitchen. That too seemed clear. Then they turned and headed into the bedroom and there was an envelope on the made bed. Danny placed his gun back in his holster.

"Danny!" Steve gestured to the bed.

In two quick strides, Steve was next to the bed, put the gun back into his holster and reached for the envelope. As he looked it over, he saw that it was the same elegant handwriting as the other letters.

"Same guy?"

"Looks like..." Steve flipped the white envelop over, and opened it. He removed the letter.

Agent Gibbs could catch me and he has a top notch team behind him – just like you and your team! That doesn't mean, Gibbs didn't have me. Oh he did, until all the evidence suddenly just disappeared!

Good luck, Lt. Commander, McGarrett!

Remember, I'll be watching you!

"Dammit!" Steve begun crumbled up the letter.

"Whoa, whoa!" Danny placed his hand on Steve's shoulder. "Get yourself together, buddy. This is what the guy wants – he wants to get under your skin and piss you off so you do something stupid. You need to get your act together right now! We have to work together and bust this guy!"

Shaking his head, Steve took a deep breath and let it out, calming himself. Danny was totally right. They all needed to be level head to catch this guy and if it meant working with NCIS and Gibbs, Steve was going to do it!

"I'm ok!" Steve folded the letter up and as he put it back in the envelop, he noticed a blond hair at the bottom. "What's this?" He held it in the light.

"Our next victim."

"I was afraid you'd say that!"

Danny handed Steve a couple of evidence bags and Steve placed the letter in one and the hair in the other.

"I think we're going to have to call Gibbs and speak with him."

"I was thinking the same thing..." Steve closed the bags up.

"And we're going to have to show him the letters!"

"I know."

"Maybe we can keep that quiet. I've known Gibbs to withhold evidence if he thought it was necessary."

That felt good to know. Steve didn't want it to get out that Elisabeth faked her death and sent Wofat in jail. Everyone would pay for that!

TBC


End file.
